Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Without a second thought, Zongxian pushed the bottle containing the Byakugan in front of Hinata Masayuki.

He had considered taking this opportunity to study the white eye.

However, after careful consideration, he gave up. This Byakugan was already out in the open, and everyone knew that Kirigakure had such a Byakugan, so it was not convenient to keep it as a "private collection." Furthermore, he was not sure what kind of gains studying the Byakugan would bring him. Although there was an inextricable connection between the Byakugan and the Sharingan, it was not something that could be achieved simply by talking.

Rather than wasting your time, it's better to focus on figuring out the Flame Fan. This branch contains a massive amount of information about the Divine Tree that is enough to make one's head spin. Even if Zongxian has completely mastered the Flame Fan, absorbing and digesting that information will not be something that can be done in a short time.

these days,

He devoted most of his energy to studying the Flame Fan.

The harvest was, of course, enormous.

However, converting it into corresponding power still requires sufficient time and a great deal of effort.

"...This...this is coming back already?" Hyuga Masayuki's hands were trembling as he picked up the bottle, veins bulging at the corners of his eyes. He had already activated his Byakugan and examined it carefully several times to confirm that the Byakugan in the bottle was genuine before looking up at Sogen. "Uchiha clan head, was this sent by Kirigakure?"

"That's right, it was just delivered."

Zongxian nodded.

"Then... do you know the thief who murdered a descendant of my clan's main family?" Hyuga Masayuki asked.

"What did you say?"

Zongxian cast a questioning glance at him.

"I wonder if that thief known as the Byakugan Killer has been brought to justice?" Hyuga Masayuki repeated, his tone quite displeased when mentioning the name Byakugan Killer.

“Senior Zhengxing, please don’t treat the Mist Ninja as trash, okay?” Hearing the old man’s mindless nonsense, Zongxian’s mood immediately worsened. “If you get killed on the battlefield, don’t blame the enemy for being too strong. Blame yourself for being less skilled. If you want revenge, go do it yourself. The Hyuga clan, do you have to rely on others for something as simple as revenge? My agreement with the Mizukage only included returning the Byakugan, not that Ao’s head had to be sent over as well.”

Giving in the cold shoulder is a perfectly reasonable request.

But the demand is for Qing to die.

Such a demand would only force the Mist Ninja to fight to the death. Even if Ao were willing to sacrifice himself, given the Mist Ninja's aggressive nature of assassinating the Mizukage at the drop of a hat, he would absolutely not be able to tolerate such humiliation.

Unrestricted exploitation of the defeated will only provoke a war that leads to the complete destruction of one side, which is not what Sogen wants.

"Senior Zhengxing, if there's nothing else, please take Byakugan and go back!"

[Chapter 145 Corpse Bone Pulse]

"Can't you just let me leave?"

"no!"

"I don't want to go to Konoha with you."

"No means no. Crying won't help, and besides, you don't even know how to cry."

On the main road outside Kirigakure, two figures, one tall and one short, were walking towards the village. However, the white-haired child seemed very reluctant, moving his feet very slowly, stopping every now and then to argue with the tall young man next to him.

However, the young man next to him with a bandage on his right shoulder was also very patient. He wasn't in a hurry at all, and instead spent time with the tantrum-throwing child.

Even though Kirigakure was already within reach.

But they just kept talking on the main road outside Kirigakure.

These two are Uchiha Shisui and Kaguya Kimimaro.

After his battle with Orochimaru, Shisui suffered a severe injury to his right shoulder. He also discovered from Kimimaro's memories that his mission had failed. Since he could no longer continue the mission, he took Kimimaro back to Kirigakure. Along the way, Kimimaro tried to escape many times and was slow and dawdling, so it took more than ten days to reach the outskirts of Kirigakure.

Looking at the gates of Kirigakure that had already come into view.

Kimimaro suddenly felt a little discouraged. He had tried to escape nineteen times in the past few days, but he had never succeeded. Even though he could only eat with his left hand, this guy with the round nose always managed to catch him. No wonder he was the guy who defeated Lord Orochimaru.

Thinking about this made me feel even more down.

Even Orochimaru lost. Does he still have a chance to escape from this guy and return to Orochimaru's side?

Why do you insist on taking me to Konoha?

Kimimaro looked up and asked.

“Because I can’t watch a child go astray,” Shisui said matter-of-factly.

Kimimaro wasn't highly educated, but he had already asked Shisui what the so-called "wrong path" meant. "Orochimaru-sama saved me. My life belongs to Orochimaru-sama. Whether it's a wrong path or not doesn't matter to me. I just want to go back to Orochimaru-sama's side."

"Sigh! I said no and that's final! There's no such thing as Orochimaru saving you or your life belonging to Orochimaru. Your life doesn't belong to anyone but yourself." This wasn't the first time he'd said this, but Kimimaro was as stubborn as a mule, and no matter what he said, he couldn't change Kimimaro's mind.

next second,

Kimimaro retorted, "Since my life belongs to myself, it is my freedom to do what I want with it. If you won't let me leave your side, doesn't that mean my life is in your hands? You're just fooling me!"

"This is different."

Even Shisui couldn't help but want to scratch his head at this point.

The child seemed aloof and quiet, but when he spoke, he was incredibly sharp-tongued and gave people a headache. He said helplessly, "I've already told you, you're still a child, and I have no intention of hurting you. On the contrary, following Orochimaru will only harm you sooner or later."

"My greatest wish is to be able to contribute to Lord Orochimaru."

Kimimaro spoke slowly and deliberately.

Shisui sighed deeply. Every conversation had fallen into this intractable vicious cycle. He really didn't know how Orochimaru had brainwashed this kid, since he hadn't found any trace of human interference in Kimimaro's mind.

But the more this is the case, the more terrifying Orochimaru becomes!

The ability to distort another person's will without using illusions, even if the target is a child with an incomplete mental development, is still terrifying. Shisui's murderous intent grew day by day, and at the same time, Shisui also regretted that if he had known that Orochimaru's soul was in trouble, he would have used illusions from the beginning.

"Zhishui, what are you doing standing here? Are you arguing with a child? Aren't you ashamed!"

The familiar voice from ahead made Shisui shift his gaze from Kimimaro to Sōgen, who appeared before him, and asked in surprise, "Sōgen, what are you doing here?"

"How did I end up here?" Zongxian rolled his eyes. "Shisui, take a good look at where you are. You, a Konoha ninja, have been standing at the gate of Kirigakure for most of the day. Do you think all the Kirigakure ninjas are blind?" He had just dismissed the old man Hyuga Masayuki and was preparing to go into seclusion for training when someone came to report that Shisui had returned, but he was standing at the gate of Kirigakure with a child, and no one knew what he was doing.

Zongxian had no choice but to postpone his secluded cultivation plan and come over to see what Shisui was up to.

You're back so quickly? Have you already found those items?

"Well, I have my reasons for that."

Zhi Shui offered a helpless explanation, "This child..."

"Where did this child come from?"

Zongxian didn't bother listening to Shisui's explanation. Seeing Kimimaro's defensive stance as if facing a formidable enemy, he suddenly became interested. "Not bad! Looks like he's had some special training. His chakra is also quite outstanding, both in quality and quantity... Shisui, where did you kidnap this kid from?"

"No, what kind of person do you take me for?"

Zhi Shui was both amused and exasperated. "Listen to me carefully..."

"Kid, what's your name?" Zongxian squatted down and looked at Kimimaro with white hair and green eyes. He didn't match him with the genius in his memory who had died sadly due to a bloodline disease. White hair and green eyes are not unique features. The Hozuki clan has white hair, and Kakashi also has white hair.

In response to Zongxian's question,

Kimimaro's innate intuition told him that the man standing in front of him was a monster in human skin. His instinctive fear prompted him to swing his fist in response to Sogen's question, and the sharp white bone that grew from his wrist plunged fiercely into Sogen's chest.

"what?"

Zongxian was shocked.

Good heavens, this is... Corpse Bone Vein?

He raised his hand and struck first, before the sharp white bone that emerged from Kimimaro's wrist could pierce his own chest. He gently patted the back of Kimimaro's hand, and tadpole-like black curse marks wrapped around Kimimaro's body, instantly immobilizing him.

"It really is the Corpse Bone Vein?"

Zongxian looked at the motionless Kimimaro, reached out and touched the sharp white bone, clicking his tongue in amazement. Wasn't the Kaguya clan wiped out by Kirigakure? If nothing unexpected happened, the last surviving member of the Kaguya clan should have been taken away by Orochimaru, but the power this brat was using was the genuine bloodline limit [Shikotsumyaku].

Could it be that—

"Zhishui, what happened to your injury?"

Zongxian turned around and looked down at Shisui's right shoulder, which was wrapped in bandages.

[Chapter 146 Kusanagi Sword: Sky Sword]

The entrance to Kirigakure was clearly not a suitable place for conversation. Sogen picked up Kimimaro, who was completely immobilized by the cursed seal, and left, leading Shisui to their base in Kirigakure. Once back in his office, Sogen tossed Kimimaro onto the sofa and released him, also removing the [Self-Karmic Curse Seal].

Having regained control of his body in mid-air, Kimimaro wiggled his hands and feet, changing his descent posture so that he landed on the sofa in a way that would prevent him from getting hurt. However, after landing safely, Kimimaro did not dare to act recklessly this time. He sat obediently on the sofa and stared at Sogen with a blank expression.

"Speak! Shisui, what exactly happened? Didn't I tell you to find a dead person? How come you brought back a little brat?" Zongxian also sat down, right opposite Kimimaro, staring at the green-eyed little guy.

"The mission failed."

Shisui chose to sit next to Kimimaro and reported the results of the mission with considerable shame.

"Failed? That's not surprising. If it were that easy to find, it wouldn't have remained undiscovered for decades." Hearing Shisui's answer, Sogen was definitely a little disappointed. In his mind, the Six Paths Tools should have helped him to grasp the essence of ninjutsu more deeply.

of course,

Of all the Six Paths tools, Sogen most wanted to acquire the Bashō Fan, which could ignore one's own chakra nature and allow manipulation of the five nature transformations of water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth. He wasn't very interested in the other flashy and troublesome items.

Now that the Uchiha fan is in hand, even Samehada has been forced to take a backseat.

The search for the Six Paths Tools was originally intended to study the power of ninjutsu and sealing techniques. The absolute control over the tools, embodied in the phrase "A knight never dies unarmed," allowed him to unravel the inherent mysteries within them. Unfortunately, he lacked the necessary skills.

"It's not that we couldn't find it, it's that someone beat us to it."

"Who is it?"

When Zongxuan asked this question, he already had an answer in his mind.

"It's Orochimaru."

The name Shisui uttered confirmed Sogen's suspicions. It was indeed Orochimaru, the number one grave-digging expert in the ninja world. First, he dug up his own family members' graves in the village, then he left his original unit, Konoha, and now he has even expanded his business overseas.

Orochimaru?

Zongxian frowned slightly, then relaxed; the news wasn't too bad.

Even if something falls into Orochimaru's hands, there's still a chance to get it back, whether by force or through trade. The only problem is that Orochimaru has hideouts all over the world, so tracking his whereabouts isn't an easy task.

He had previously sent Uchiha Akitarou to the Land of Rice Fields to search for Orochimaru.

As a result, they didn't even see Orochimaru's shadow.

“Meeting Orochimaru was a complete accident…” Shisui explained the whole process of his encounter with Orochimaru in as much detail as possible. Finally, he sighed with regret, “It’s a pity that I didn’t know that Orochimaru’s soul had a problem. If I had used genjutsu to defeat him from the beginning, I wouldn’t have ended up in such a mess.”

You're overthinking it.

Zongxian immediately poured cold water on him, saying, "Defeating Orochimaru might not be too difficult, but to kill him... I don't have much confidence. That guy's ability to survive is too strong. Even if you and I use our eye techniques, we might not be able to really kill him."